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Report: Bobby Petrino's hiring as Louisville head coach 'imminent'

Bobby Petrino won the 2006 Orange Bowl in his first stint at Louisville. (Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Bobby Petrino, who was the head coach at Louisville from 2003-06, is expected to be rehired by the Cardinals after a brief stint in the NFL, a scandal that cost him his job at Arkansas and one season at Western Kentucky, according to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports.

"Athletic director Tom Jurich is expected to meet with Petrino's agent, David Dunn, Wednesday night to finalize contract details," Forde writes. "The school plans to introduce Petrino Thursday. The Louisville Athletic Association's personnel committee has called a 10 a.m. ET meeting Thursday to discuss a personnel matter. The committee is expected to approve a contract for Petrino, and he will be formally introduced thereafter."

Petrino was put through a nine-hour interview that was "very intense" and multiple background checks, a source told Forde.

Petrino was 41-9 in his first stint at Louisville, including a win in the 2006 Orange Bowl, the program's first BCS bowl win. He was also the Cardinals' offensive coordinator in 1998.

He signed a five-year deal with the Falcons worth $24 million in 2007, but went 3-10 before resigning to take the head coaching job at Arkansas, where he was 34-17 in four seasons.

But Petrino was fired after he got into a motorcycle accident while with Jessica Dorrell, a former Arkansas volleyball player with whom he was having an affair and had hired as a fundraiser for the program.

He went 8-4 with Western Kentucky in 2013, but the Hilltoppers weren't invited to a bowl game.